Swifts and Humming Birds. 



Frc. 27. 



The wings have short coverts. The middle toes are 

 united at the base ; the inner toe is small, directed 

 backwards, as is also the outer 

 toe. The tail feathers are short, 

 stiff, and serve as organs of 

 support. These are insect-eat- 

 ing birds like the last group, 

 and they derive their name from 

 their efforts after the capture 

 of their prey. In these the 

 tongue bone is specially elon- 

 gated, and its lateral processes 

 coiled and disposed to allow 

 of the rapid protrusion of the 

 barbed tongue. Woodpeckers of woodpecker, 



exist everywhere but in Madagascar and Australia. 



37. Order 4, Swifts and Humming-Birds (Macro- 

 chires). A small order of birds, mostly of very 

 minute size, and almost all of powerful flight. Some 

 of these, like the swifts, have flattish beaks; others, 

 like the humming-birds, have long tubular bills. In 

 each wing the forearm and hand greatly exceed in 

 length the upper arm, hence the Latin name given to 

 the order. The feet are very weak, scarcely able to 

 support the weight of the body, and the inner toe 

 may in some be turned forwards or backwards. They 

 have a very simple syrinx, and little or no voice. 

 They are mostly tropical birds, and vary much in 

 size, the goatsuckers being the largest, sometimes of 

 comparatively large size ; while the swifts are much 

 smaller and somewhat swallow-like. One of these, 

 the Collocalia of the Malay archipelago, secretes, by 



